


The Hero and The Bad Witch

by codename_bewareofthefangirl



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Brats - Freeform, Child!Akashi, Child!Kise, Child!Murasakibara, Child!haizaki, Child!momoi, Children, Cute, Dad!nijimura, Family, Fluff, GOm as family, Kids, Kiseki as family, Niji is the best dad, Slice of Life, bad babysitter, child!Midorima, child!aomine, child!kuroko, family au, supportive coworkers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 21:03:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13419597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/codename_bewareofthefangirl/pseuds/codename_bewareofthefangirl
Summary: Tetsuya gasped and even Atsushi widened his eyes, looking at him shocked.“A witch?”Nijimura nodded, with absolute seriousness.“The meanest of them all,” he assured, “She had lied all the time, but now she’s gone and we don’t have to worry anymore.”“I knew it…” Atsushi muttered darkly, “She didn’t know how to cook…”“She’s not going to return?” Tetsuya asked worriedly.“Never again. I’ve sent her far away!”“Where?”To fuck herself.“To the dark land of the witches, don’t worry!”Finally, the boy wiped away his tears and showed his tiny, but shiny smile. He stood on his tiptoes and left a kiss on the man’s cheek.“You’re a hero, dad,” he explained proudly.





	The Hero and The Bad Witch

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small thing I've written n Tumblr, but I fell in love with this family!

Nijimura should have left his phone home. Or, why not, left the country without turning back. That would have been a good idea.

But no, he has a damn soul. And a bigger heart.

With a screech, he jumped from his chair. Everyone in the office turned to look at him; nobody was  particularly surprised.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S HELL AND YOU CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE?!” He yelled at the top of his lungs, a vein popping on his forehead.

Some of his colleagues shook their heads in disappointment, others frowned and exchanged meaningful looks.

When finally, after a heated argument, he hung up, everyone was ready and waiting.

The young man rubbed his temples.

“I’m sorry guys, the new babysitter has just quit. She said that if I am not home in fifteen minutes, she’ll abandon “the demons”…” As much as he wanted to keep his tone firm, his voice betrayed the shame. He hated doing things like this, not finishing his work properly, being always divided and-

“Nijimura-san!” One of his most esteemed coworkers stood up with a fierce glare, “We should have known! That woman was clearly not enough for the kids. I’m disappointed in her!”

Another woman nodded, arms crossed, “Weak-willed. Your children are energic, but quitting like this is really shameful!”

“We should have picked someone better…” another man commented, shaking his head, “I’ll ask my wife if she knows someone better!”

Nijimura cracked a tired, but relieved smile as one of the women approached him and put in his hands the coat.

“What are you doing here? Go, go!” she shooed him away.

“But the project…”

“We’ll take care of that! Don’t let the children with that witch!” another one yelled, holding his thumbs up to remind him everything was okay.

Nijimura took a deep breath, as he risked becoming emotional.

“Thanks, guys…” he bowed to them, full of gratitude, and then dashed out.

They all looked at him go, with fond smiles on their faces.

They all knew of Nijimura situation. He was an orphan and had been adopted by a lonely granny who had grown him as best as she could before dying; he had become a fine man, maybe a bit temperamental, but strong and kind-hearted. His hard and serious efforts had allowed him to earn enough to live an easy, comfortable life, lacking nothing. However, after few years of working at their company and earning their respect and admiration, he had discovered his old orphanage was soon going to be closed down and the children divided or sent to other countries. Nijimura hadn’t hesitated: he had adopted the eight kids remained and taken them in.

They were the “problematic” children that nobody wanted to adopt: Shougo came from an abusive family, Seijuurou was the son of a mistress, kicked out of the main family, Daiki and Ryouta had been abandoned outside the door of the orphanage; Tetsuya’s father was unknown and his mother had died at the hospital, Shintarou’s parents had died in a car accident and no one of his relatives had wanted to take care of him, Atsushi had been found by the police in an abandoned house and Satsuki’s mother had been a sixteen-years-old girl who had been abandoned by his family and who had lived in the orphanage until her premature demise. They were energic, difficult to understand, full of trust issues children… that nobody wanted; they had always had only each other and the grannies at the orphanage; they felt like family already, after being rejected by everyone. Except for Nijimura, he had opened his heart to all of them and refused to abandon them again.

He had become suddenly dad and, even if things hadn’t been easy at all, his colleagues had never seen him happier and more satisfied with his life. Nijimura now was full.

“As we could ever leave an exceptional guy like him alone…” The boss walked in with a proud grin, “Come on, let’s finish here guys! Takeda-san, please ask your wife about other babysitters, we need to help him find a suitable candidate this time.”

~~

When Nijimura arrived home, the “witch” had already left.

He couldn’t believe it.

He knew the kids were mischevious, rambunctious and often acted as if they were devils but…they could also be extremely sweet and loving if you managed to understand them.

He opened the door and chaos overwhelmed him. They lived in a small, traditional Japanese house with a small garden, left to him by his precious granny when she had passed away.

“What the hell…” he mumbled as he leaped over a pile of shoes.

“Brats?” he called, venturing into the living room while trying to take off his coat, “Bra-ATSUSHI COME DOWN IMMEDIATELY!”

The purple-haired boy, hanging from the higher shelf of the bookshelf of the living room, gave him an annoyed glance. Without even a warning, he let go and fell backward.

“FUUUUUCK!” Nijimura slid along the floor, arms outstretched. He caught the kid before he could crash on the floor and they both slammed against the bookshelf. He fell with his ass on the floor, but the brat was safe in his lap.

“What was that?” Nijimura growled, hitting lightly the boy’s head, “It was dangerous! I’ve told you a million times to not climb things!”

Atsushi bit his bottom lip, offended, “You’ve hidden the cookies…”

“That’s because you’re grounded for eating Ryouta’ share,” Nijimura reminded him, pinching his cheek.

Atsushi whined but lowered his head.

The man sighed and ruffled his hair, “So, where are the others?” he asked in a softer tone.

“I’m here.” Nijimura nearly jumped, screeching. Nearly, because now he was used to Tetsuya’s ghost-like ability.

“Hey, Tetsu ho- what’s wrong?” From the big, clear eyes of Tetsuya fell silent tears.

Still with Atsushi in his lap, Nijimura used the other arm to pull him into a hug.

“Shhh, shhh…” he cradled him, rubbing circles on his small back, “what’s wrong, uh?”

The boy held on his shirt, hiccupping without a sound.

“The l-lady said I’m scary- a ghost- to stay away from her…” he explained in a shaky voice.

Nijimura cursed in his head, _that witch!_

“That’s not true, Tetsu!” he replied sternly, “You’re such a great child! It’s my fault, I didn’t realize the new babysitter was a witch and she said all those mean things!”

Tetsuya gasped and even Atsushi widened his eyes, looking at him shocked.

“A witch?”

Nijimura nodded, with absolute seriousness.

“The meanest of them all,” he assured, “She had lied all the time, but now she’s gone and we don’t have to worry anymore.”

“I knew it…” Atsushi muttered darkly, “She didn’t know how to cook…”

“She’s not going to return?” Tetsuya asked worriedly.

“Never again. I’ve sent her far away!”

“Where?”

_To fuck herself._

“To the dark land of the witches, don’t worry!”

Finally, the boy wiped away his tears and showed his tiny, but shiny smile. He stood on his tiptoes and left a kiss on the man’s cheek.

“You’re a hero, dad,” he explained proudly.

Nijimura felt like melting and coughed, to hide his embarrassment: Tetsuya was adorable.

“So, where are the others?” he asked, slowly standing up. Atsushi remained stubbornly glued to him, but Nijimura barely noticed it. Having a kid or two hanging from his body was a daily occurrence.

Tetsuya pointed with his chubby hands toward the corner of the living room, between the tv and the box with the toys. He couldn’t see any kid, but an impressive wall of books.

With a sigh, he reached the couch and put the two kids sitting there.

“Alright, stay here until I’ve found everyone!” he ordered, ruffling their hair, “Atsushi, look after Tetsu. If you two behave, we’ll have dessert tonight…”

At his words, Atsushi perked up and clasped the younger’s hand with a determined look.

 

Nijimura inhaled deeply and took off his coat, letting it on the couch for the moment. Two found, six to go.

He walked towards the wall of books and crouched in front of it; he could have easily looked inside by standing up, seeing the height, but he knew Shintarou preferred it this way.

He knocked against it.

“Shin? It’s me, dad. Can we…open this fortress?” he asked gently.

After some shushed movements, one by one the books were removed until there was a small opening. Sitting inside, he found his green-haired boy waiting. He had a book of fables on his lap and, behind the round glasses, Njimura could see the red-rimmed eyes.

“Welcome home, dad,” he greeted him quietly.

The man smiled and opened his arms; the boy stood up, book still in his hands, and walked out of the fortress, as tall as him, and crashed into his chest.

“I’m home.” He left a kiss on his forehead, “Why the fortress?”

Shintarou shrugged, “The lad- witch, the witch broke my lucky frog while running behind Shou. Then she started screaming and getting more and more mad, crying and saying bad things. I was scared. I hid.”

Nijimura cringed. He really should have informed himself better about that woman.

“I’m sorry, really sorry,” he apologized, picking him up.

“It’s fine. You’re here,” the boy replied quietly, patting his head.

“Thanks Shin,” he murmured, still feeling guilty. He put him down next to Tetsuya, who immediately pulled his sleeve.

“Read?” he pleaded the brother, who let out a small sigh.

“…fine,” he murmured, opening the book on the story of the Beauty and The Beast. Atsushi, trying to be subtle, leaned towards them too.

 

Okay, they were fine. They were the quiet ones, he could leave them alone to search the others without fearing what they could do. One would think that, being Atsushi, Seijuurou and Shougo older than the others, who were only four, he would feel relaxed knowing two of them were with the youngers… Not Nijimura. He knew Shou and Sei and the lethal rivalry they had going on, and knew how incontrollable Dai and Ryou could be when they got along. He wasn’t relieved they were all together, he was scared.

Nijimura ventured into the kitchen and felt like crying. Or hitting a wall with his head.

The floor was covered in flour, water, juice and…was that tomato sauce? Same worked for the counters. The table, on the other side, was painted with watercolors, tempera, sheets of papers, color pencils…

In the middle of that colorful chaos, Satsuki was painting happily. On her knees on the chair, she was venting her creativity over a white piece of paper; her cute, long pink hair were styled in two messy piggy-tails, probably work of Ryouta.

As soon as he entered, she shrilled and clapped her hands.  She stumbled down the chair and rushed to him.

Nijimura saw her pretty dress covered in colors and…food? And braced himself. He heard a loud “shaff” as she crashed into his legs. Now his slacks were multicolor too.

“DAD!”

“Hey princess!” he gently peeled her off and knelt at her height.

“The mean lady went away?” she asked, as her eyes sparkled with hope.

“Yep, gone,” he assured, “Forever!”

Satsuki brightened, “Good! She was bad! She made Shin cry!”

Nijimura hummed in understanding, then glance around.

“What happened here? You know I don’t like when you make a mess and don’t clean…” he scolded her mildly.

The girl lowered her gaze, shifting her foot back and forth.

“We wanted pizza or something good to eat, like what dad makes, but the lady didn’t want. She was already angry, so Sei said he was going to cook. The others wanted to help and made a mess. I wanted to draw, but they started a war with my colors,” she pouted reporting the last bit.

Nijimura shut his eyes, steeled himself, and when he opened them again, his face was soft.

“I understand. Now, take off this dress, that’s dirty, take a blanket from the drawers in the living room and go sitting with your brothers, okay? Later, we’ll all clean together.”

Satsuki nodded, “Do you want to see my drawings?”

“Yes, but later, princess,” he assured her, “Do you know where are Daiki and-”

Satsuki averted her eyes guiltily.

“Satsuki?” Nijimura narrowed his eyes, suspiciously.

“…garden.”

Nijimura grimaced horrified. It had snowed three days ago! Snowed!

“Go in the living room!” he yelled at her as he rushed past all the bedrooms and dashed out in the garden.

 

Here they were, the troublemakers.

Shougo and Seijuurou were angrily screaming something while throwing melted snow at each other. As usual, Sei had the upper hand and a smug smirk on his lips.

Daiki and Ryouta had climbed, again, the cherry tree and, straddling the largest branch, they were animatedly…playing house? Ah, probably another compromise: Ryouta loved playing house with Daiki, but the other preferred more adventurous games. They had learned to compromise with time.

Seeing as Daiki had a fake black eye-patch on his left eye, it was probably the turn of the Pirate Captain and The Merman setting.

Nijimura put a hand on his left hip and took a deep breath.

“SHOUGO. SEIJUUROU. DAIKI. RYOUTA.”

All the boys paralyzed. Slowly, they turned to face him with expressions of pure horror.

“Fuck!” Shougo let slip, and that won him a deadly glare. Okay, it was Nijimura’s fault if they had learned to curse, but he didn’t want his children to use them.

“Come here,” he ordered coldly.

Seijuurou used the moment of Shougo’s distraction to hit him square in the face with a ball of mud, so hard that the boy fell on his butt, before quickly scrambling to Nijimura.

“SEEEEEI!” Shougo howled, wiping away the dirt and chasing him like a fury.

Only the stern gaze of Nijimura made him stop in his track; it also made Sei lose his grin.

“Sei?” The man crossed his arms waiting.

The red-head frowned, pursing his lips in a thin line.

Nijimura arched an eyebrow.

Seijuurou sighed and turned to face his brother, bowed a little and let out a small, “I’m sorry.”

Usually, Seijuurou was the politest and most mature of all of them. He was The Big Brother. However, Shougo was the only one enough mischievous to make him lose his temper at every occasion.

“Shou?” Nijimura now looked at the other boy, who gasped.

“What? It’s not my fault! It’s him wh-”

“Shou.”

The boy growled, stomping his foot on the ground.

Still, he growled an “I’m sorry,” too.

Nijimura now smiled proudly at them, “Good boys.” They relished in his praise, even Shougo who liked to act tough.

In the meanwhile, Ryouta and Daiki had come down from the tree and were bouncing towards them. As always when they did some mischief together, Daiki was holding Ryou’s hand and walking in front of him with a guilty frown, as a shield. The blond followed him with a carefree smile on the lips: together with Satsuki, he was the sunshine of the house.

“All of you, take off your clothes and shoes as you enter and wait here for me,” Nijimura pushed all of them inside and closed the wooden door. As fast as he could -he didn’t want to leave them alone more than the necessary- he returned from the bathroom with a big towel for each, shivering boy and wrapped them inside, like bugs.

Daiki seemed to think the same, as he smirked and mumbled, “Caterpillar…”

The thought made Ryouta grimace.

When, finally, they were all bundled up, he straightened.

“So,” Nijimura started when they were all standing in front of him, “Why were you outside, without even a jacket, covered in snow and mud? I remember clearly telling you the garden was off-limits when I’m not at home.”

They looked at each other, probably trying to decide what to say. As always, Sei took the word first.

“Well, we wanted to play, but the lady was being very boring and severe.”

“Witch…” Daiki grumbled as Ryouta nodded fervently.

“He didn’t want me to braid Satsuki’s hair!” Ryouta revealed, darkening. Immediately, the other three boys stiffened: for them, Ryou was untouchable; only they had the right to pick on him.

“Why?” Nijimura asked patiently.

“Because she said it was a girls’ thing, so she did it instead of me!” Ryouta was deeply offended.

“But Satsuki didn’t like them, so Ryouta did them again,” Daiki added, patting the blond on the head.

“Ah, yes!” The sunshine boy brightened again.

“The witch got so offended,” Shougo smirked, satisfied at the memory, “She thought Satsuki was her ally. Stupid.”

Seijuurou shook his head, “She wasn’t very smart.”

It took Nijimura every ounce of self-control to not laugh. He loved his brats.

“This, still, doesn’t explain why you were outside,” he continued, “And, why is the laundry basket outside too?” he added, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

Now, all the boy chuckled.

“Well,” Akaashi resumed his story, “She screamed at us for playing hide N seek in the living room and for being loud. Many times,” he underlined gravely, “At lunch, Atsushi wanted pizza. Or something good, but the lady said she didn’t know how to prepare it. I told her I was going to cook, but Shou and Dai tried to help. They spilled the flour on the floor,” Sei glared at Dai, who raised his hands.

“It was Shou!”

“Why is it always my fault?” the other replied, clenching his fists.

“You pushed me!”

“You were doing it wrong!”

“It’s fine, boys; Sei, continue,” Nijimura stopped them before it could break into another argument. Moreover, he was sort of glad they had messed up from the start: He didn’t want to think what could have happened if they had tried until the end, especially with the oven.

“She got angry and hit by mistake the bowl with the tomato sauce, that ended on the floor,” Sei grimaced at the thought, “She slipped and got dirty. Satsuki said she seemed like one of her drawings, the lady got mad. Daiki and Shougo started throwing around the paint.”

Nijinura raised a hand and Sei stopped; he looked at the two guilty parties.

“What I’ve said about paint wars?”

They lowered their head.

“You’re grounded: You are going to help Satsuki tidying up every time she finishes drawing, for a week.” The boys whined horrified, especially knowing the kind of mess their sister usually made.

“But dad!”

“No. No but, Sei?”

“She got even more angry. Shougo threw at her something blu, not on purpose this time. She started chasing him and she broke Shin’s frog. He started crying and hid behind a castle of books.”

“Poor frog,” Ryouta sniffed.

“We all ran outside, we were worried about Shou.”

“I could do it alone,” the boy crossed his arms.

“He was scared,” Daiki revealed with a shrug, “He couldn’t.”

“I tripped her so that she couldn’t take him,” Sei added with an angelic smile, before falling silent.

“And then?” Nijimura inquired.

Seijuurou refused to continue.

“She called him the son of the Devil!” Ryouta supplied, feeling personally attacked by it.

Sei blushed, ashamed.

“So, I distracted her!” The blond continued proudly.

“And me and Dai filled the laundry basket with water and mud,” Shougo revealed.

“We threw it at her,” Daiki concluded, with a proud grin, “I never miss.”

“She stormed out of the house and we played,” Sei summed up the end, with a shrug.

Nijimura really wanted to laugh, hard. Very hard.

But he had to behave like a good parent.

He crouched in front of them.

“Boys,” he started, making sure they looked at him in the eyes, “She has said very mean things and I’m proud that you’ve protected each other like good brothers, but you shouldn’t have thrown the basket at her. It could have been dangerous. And what I’ve always said? Violence is a bad thing and doesn’t solve things.”

“But she-” Daike protested, outraged.

“No Daiki, it’s never a good thing,” he firmly stated, “Do you understand?”

They stayed in silence for some seconds, before they slowly nodded.

“Good!” He ruffled their hair, “Now, let’s go to the others. I’ve something important to say.”

 

When they finally were all seated on the couch, Nijimura finally felt the tension fading. Everything was going to be fine.

As he seated down on the floor in front of them, they exchanged in hushed whispers the news about the lady being a witch.

“So, as you already know, the lady was a bad witch and she won’t return, so you don’t have to worry anymore,” he started, as they all smiled in relief.

“Next time, I’ll make sure to hire a fairy, is that okay?” Nijimura asked, but Satsuki pouted.

“Can’t you stay home with us?” she begged, and his brothers stared at him equally pleading.

The man sighed, offering a tired smile, “I’d love to, princess, but you know that dad has to work. Remember the kind lady who brings you candies from time to time?”

Atsushi nodded with sparkling eyes.

“She’s my boss, a sort of queen, and she needs my help, I can’t leave her alone.”

Shou grimaced, crossing his arms, “You’re too kind-hearted, dad.”

Nijimura chuckled, “It’s a good thing, no?”

Tetsuya smiled, “The best, dad. Like a hero.”

“So, will you behave with the fairy?”

The children exchanged dubious looks, but, in the end, nodded.

“We’ll behave,” Sei promised solemnly.

Nijimura cracked a relieved smile and clapped his hands, standing up.

“Good, now let’s clean this mess and take a good bath.”

All of them grimaced horrified, especially Dai and Shou, who knew who they had to help.

“Dad!”

“Can’t we do it tomorrow?”

“I haven’t finished drawing!”

“…it’s not even my fault…”

“I hate baths.”

“Oi, Tetsu! Don’t disappear!”

Nijimura smirked, “Oh really?” they eyed him warily, “Because I was planning to make some pizza and hot chocolate for the good kids who helped me cleaning.”

They gasped in surprise before they divided in silence and started to tidy up with zealous enthusiasm.

Nijimura grinned, shaking his head.

“…good brats.”

His phone vibrated. A message from his boss.

_“Is everything alright?”_

Nijimura looked around: Satsuki was trying to clean the kitchen with Dai and Shou, who were already arguing; Sei was helping Tetsu and Shin putting the books at their place and he could see Ryou and Atsushi putting the shoes in the hallway in order.

“Yes…”

_“Yeah, we’re fine.”_


End file.
